However despite the strong results and positive vision of the future shares in the firm fell in after-the-bell trading in New York.

"There's a lot of investors in this market who think the company won't be able to sustain this type of performance in the future and that is why we are seeing such a lukewarm response to the results," said Fred Burke, a fund manager at Johnson Lemon Asset Management in Washington.

Chinese battleground

On Wednesday Microsoft said it was suing Google for hiring one of its vice presidents to set up a research centre in China.

The country is a new battleground for the two firms, which offer online and desktop search tools.

However, when asked about China's revaluation of its currency on Thursday, Mr Liddell replied: "That's not a significant issue for us.

"We do have revenues coming in internationally and Europe is the most significant (source of overseas revenue)."